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| Jimmy Margulies, former editorial cartoonist at The Record of Woodland Park, commenting on Democratic candidates winning races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia last week, above. |
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| Another Margulies cartoon. Back from his Asian trip, Trump is expected to serve up the middle class in trying to get the GOP tax cut for the rich passed and signed into law. |
'The Resistance showed up
at the polls,' Bill Maher says
-- HACKENSACK, N.J.
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
We've heard lots of theories explaining why a Republican con man, liar, racist, sexual predator and tax dodger won the 2016 presidential race by a technicality in the Electoral College.
"Rural America still really dislikes Democrats," said an Opinion piece that ran on Monday in The New York Times.
"...The key to Democrats' fortunes in 2018 and 2020 will be to execute on the fundamentals -- pick quality candidates who don't mess up, make sure voters get to the polls [italics added], and take advantage of President Trump's low approval numbers ....," said Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New America, a Manhattan-based think tank.
He is among those weighing in on last Tuesday's off-year elections, and referring to the tens of millions of unenthusiastic Democrats who stayed home on Nov. 8, 2016, and effectively defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
In New Jersey and Virginia, enough Democrats went to the polls last Tuesday to overwhelm Republican gubernatorial candidates who were seen as Trump clones or surrogates.
Satirist Bill Maher said those and other victories across the country are "all being chalked up to a radical, new Democratic strategy called actually voting."
The Resistance
In his Friday night monologue on HBO, Maher said he was feeling better than he had in a whole year.
"Democrats finally won some elections," Maher said. "The Resistance showed up at the polls."
Democrats won governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, a lesbian was elected mayor of Seattle, and a Latina single mom won the balloting for mayor of Topeka, Kan., said the host of "Real Time with Bill Maher."
A Liberian refugee is the mayor-elect in Helena, Mont., a conservative state with a history of tensions over immigrants.
Wilmot Collins, who arrived in Helena 23 years ago, will be the first black mayor in the state's history.
The election was non-partisan, but Collins leans Democratic and has been critical of Trump, Slate.com reported.
'Liberal revenge'
Maher called some of Tuesday's election results "liberal revenge fantasy."
The satirist said a "shill for the NRA" was beaten by the boyfriend of a shooting victim, and a Republican member of Virginia's state legislature who wanted to restrict the bathrooms transgender people use was beaten "by a trans woman."
Maher said just like in her gender reassignment surgery, "she made sure America has one less dick."
In The Record
Today's front page in The Record of Woodland Park, my local daily paper, is dominated by news of a federal jury deadlock in the corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the Democrat who is New Jersey's senior senator.
As is The Record's habit when covering a big trial, a long news story on the latest developments in the Newark courtroom runs with an even longer column on the same exact events by Mike Kelly (1A and 6A).
Kelly's byline identifies him as "Columnist, North Jersey Record" -- a fictitious publication.
A column that echoes a news story is the surest way to tell readers editors are desperate to fill space as the newsroom staff struggles after more than 350 of their colleagues were laid off by Gannett Co.
The latest to go is Bob Klapisch, The Record's baseball columnist. @BobKlap said in a Nov. 3 tweet:
"Looks like I've come to the end of the road with the Bergen Record. The baseball column has been eliminated by Gannett. On to free agency."
Big laugh line
The biggest laugh line on Page 1 today is in a news story on Trump's proposed tax plan.
The Record actually quotes Governor Christie, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House adviser Ivanka Trump as saying "the package of tax cuts and simplifications would unleash economic growth not seen since the turn of the century" (1A).
Republicans have used the same argument in trying to sell tax cuts for the rich and wealthy corporations since Ronald Reagan was president nearly 30 years ago, and none of us has seen any of that trickle-down proseprity.
The Valley Hospital
New stories today and Monday on a proposed new Valley Hospital in Paramus don't mention the Ridgewood hospital's tax-exempt status (today's Local front, Monday's front page).
Nor does Staff Writer Lindy Washburn ask Paramus officials and residents about the potential impact on their property tax bills, if the hospital pays no taxes on the $750 million project after it is completed in 2023.
The hospital's Ridgewood campus would still offer medical services, but after a 10-year battle, village residents succeeded in stopping the development of bigger buildings on the property.
Although fewer than 30 people showed up for Monday night's hearing on a new hospital in Paramus, The Record's headline today called the move "popular" (1L).
Election results
Half of your property tax bill may go to support schools in your town, but The Record has never taken school elections seriously.
School election results from last Tuesday's elections in Bergen and Passaic counties did not appear until Monday (6L).
Results of county and municipal elections appeared on Sunday's 7L.
Democrat Assad Akhter, the first Muslim to sit on the Passaic County Board of Freeholders in 2016, was elected last Tuesday to serve out the rest of an unexpired term.
On his Facebook page last Tuesday morning, Akhter posted photos of voters who were shocked and brought to tears by the defeat of Clinton in the 2016 presidential election:
NJ Transit
The Record led the Sunday edition with another in a series of so-called investigative stories on the "crisis" at NJ Transit, the state agency that provides bus and train service (1A on Sunday).
Little is made of the annual state funding cut of more than $300 million Christie imposed on NJ Transit, forcing the agency to raise fares and cut some service.
"The agency was once considered a model for mass transit," Staff Writer Curtis Tate said on the continuation page before making an awkward veiled reference to Christie's funding cut of more than 90%:
"But after years of lackluster state funding, it struggles to fully fund its operations and capital improvement program."
We've heard lots of theories explaining why a Republican con man, liar, racist, sexual predator and tax dodger won the 2016 presidential race by a technicality in the Electoral College.
"Rural America still really dislikes Democrats," said an Opinion piece that ran on Monday in The New York Times.
"...The key to Democrats' fortunes in 2018 and 2020 will be to execute on the fundamentals -- pick quality candidates who don't mess up, make sure voters get to the polls [italics added], and take advantage of President Trump's low approval numbers ....," said Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New America, a Manhattan-based think tank.
He is among those weighing in on last Tuesday's off-year elections, and referring to the tens of millions of unenthusiastic Democrats who stayed home on Nov. 8, 2016, and effectively defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
In New Jersey and Virginia, enough Democrats went to the polls last Tuesday to overwhelm Republican gubernatorial candidates who were seen as Trump clones or surrogates.
Satirist Bill Maher said those and other victories across the country are "all being chalked up to a radical, new Democratic strategy called actually voting."
 |
| Mayor-elect Wilmot Collins of Helena, Mont., in a photo from Facebook. |
The Resistance
In his Friday night monologue on HBO, Maher said he was feeling better than he had in a whole year.
"Democrats finally won some elections," Maher said. "The Resistance showed up at the polls."
Democrats won governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, a lesbian was elected mayor of Seattle, and a Latina single mom won the balloting for mayor of Topeka, Kan., said the host of "Real Time with Bill Maher."
A Liberian refugee is the mayor-elect in Helena, Mont., a conservative state with a history of tensions over immigrants.
Wilmot Collins, who arrived in Helena 23 years ago, will be the first black mayor in the state's history.
The election was non-partisan, but Collins leans Democratic and has been critical of Trump, Slate.com reported.
'Liberal revenge'
Maher called some of Tuesday's election results "liberal revenge fantasy."
The satirist said a "shill for the NRA" was beaten by the boyfriend of a shooting victim, and a Republican member of Virginia's state legislature who wanted to restrict the bathrooms transgender people use was beaten "by a trans woman."
Maher said just like in her gender reassignment surgery, "she made sure America has one less dick."
In The Record
Today's front page in The Record of Woodland Park, my local daily paper, is dominated by news of a federal jury deadlock in the corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the Democrat who is New Jersey's senior senator.
As is The Record's habit when covering a big trial, a long news story on the latest developments in the Newark courtroom runs with an even longer column on the same exact events by Mike Kelly (1A and 6A).
Kelly's byline identifies him as "Columnist, North Jersey Record" -- a fictitious publication.
A column that echoes a news story is the surest way to tell readers editors are desperate to fill space as the newsroom staff struggles after more than 350 of their colleagues were laid off by Gannett Co.
The latest to go is Bob Klapisch, The Record's baseball columnist. @BobKlap said in a Nov. 3 tweet:
"Looks like I've come to the end of the road with the Bergen Record. The baseball column has been eliminated by Gannett. On to free agency."
Big laugh line
The biggest laugh line on Page 1 today is in a news story on Trump's proposed tax plan.
The Record actually quotes Governor Christie, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House adviser Ivanka Trump as saying "the package of tax cuts and simplifications would unleash economic growth not seen since the turn of the century" (1A).
Republicans have used the same argument in trying to sell tax cuts for the rich and wealthy corporations since Ronald Reagan was president nearly 30 years ago, and none of us has seen any of that trickle-down proseprity.
The Valley Hospital
New stories today and Monday on a proposed new Valley Hospital in Paramus don't mention the Ridgewood hospital's tax-exempt status (today's Local front, Monday's front page).
Nor does Staff Writer Lindy Washburn ask Paramus officials and residents about the potential impact on their property tax bills, if the hospital pays no taxes on the $750 million project after it is completed in 2023.
The hospital's Ridgewood campus would still offer medical services, but after a 10-year battle, village residents succeeded in stopping the development of bigger buildings on the property.
Although fewer than 30 people showed up for Monday night's hearing on a new hospital in Paramus, The Record's headline today called the move "popular" (1L).
Election results
Half of your property tax bill may go to support schools in your town, but The Record has never taken school elections seriously.
School election results from last Tuesday's elections in Bergen and Passaic counties did not appear until Monday (6L).
Results of county and municipal elections appeared on Sunday's 7L.
Democrat Assad Akhter, the first Muslim to sit on the Passaic County Board of Freeholders in 2016, was elected last Tuesday to serve out the rest of an unexpired term.
On his Facebook page last Tuesday morning, Akhter posted photos of voters who were shocked and brought to tears by the defeat of Clinton in the 2016 presidential election:
"Do you remember this feeling?? It happened a year ago to this day.... and our nation has been suffering ever since. Don't let this happen here in New Jersey! Don't take victory for granted! Don't allow others to make excuses for not voting! This is our future....GET OUT THERE AND VOTE! VOTE ROW B IN PASSAIC COUNTY!"
NJ Transit
The Record led the Sunday edition with another in a series of so-called investigative stories on the "crisis" at NJ Transit, the state agency that provides bus and train service (1A on Sunday).
Little is made of the annual state funding cut of more than $300 million Christie imposed on NJ Transit, forcing the agency to raise fares and cut some service.
"The agency was once considered a model for mass transit," Staff Writer Curtis Tate said on the continuation page before making an awkward veiled reference to Christie's funding cut of more than 90%:
"But after years of lackluster state funding, it struggles to fully fund its operations and capital improvement program."
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